The Delaware-based brewery announced today that it will start a soft rollout into Tennessee with Memphis and Chattanooga up first. Dogfish Head will team with Budweiser of Memphis and Carter Distributing in Chattanooga to restart distribution in Tennessee.

Since last summer, when we announced that Dogfish was headed back to the four states we pulled out of in 2011, we’ve been grateful for all of the anticipation, kind words and patience from the craft beer community. Today, for all of the Dogfish fans in Tennessee, we can finally say … we’re back!

We’re starting a soft rollout into Tennessee with Memphis and Chattanooga, with our eye on filling out the state in the coming months.

“We did a ton of research before moving forward to come back to Tennessee,” says Dogfish Head Founder and President Sam Calagione. “We wanted to make sure we had the right partners, and I’m excited that we’ll be working with Bud of Memphis and Carter Distributing in Chattanooga.”

To find Dogfish Head beers in your area, try the Fish Finder at dogfish.com. You can search by beer and by ZIP code, and the Fish Finder will tell you where shipments have dropped in the past 60 days. Our trucks bound for Tennessee are leaving Delaware this week, beer should be appearing on shelves and taps in Memphis & Chatanooga (and the Fish Finder) over the next few weeks.

Dogfish Head is also now back in Rhode Island and parts of Indiana and Wisconsin. We are still working hard to find the right partners to fill out Indiana and Wisconsin and expect to be statewide in both in the coming months.

Lagunitas, founded in California in 1993 by Tony Magee, quietly launched in the Bluff City within the last few weeks. A kick-off party was held tonight at Sweet Grass Next Door.

A.S. Barboro is the local distributor for Lagunitas.

The brewery’s flagship Lagunitas IPA is the only beer available on draft, while the IPA, Dogtown Pale and Pils, a Czech Style Pilsner, are now available in bottles. All qualify as low-gravity beers under Tennessee law.

Lagunitas’ high-gravity offerings will be arriving soon, and come summer, most of Lagunitas’ portfolio will be available in Memphis.

The opening of Lagunitas’ new Chicago-based brewhouse created enough capacity to add Memphis to the brewery’s distribution network.

Memphis craft beer drinkers have a new option for hoppy session beers.

The Just Beer Project’s Anytime IPA hit Memphis shelves and taps within the last month. Anytime IPA comes in at 45 IBUs and 4.6% ABV. It’s a crisp, flavorful and well-balanced American IPA brewed with four hop varieties — Chinook, Ahtanum, Citra and Cascade — and dry-hopped with Citra, Simcoe and Cascade.

The Just Beer Project is a beer venture from the Vermont-based Alchemy of Science, which is a subsidiary of the Boston Beer Company. All Just Beer Project beers are under 5% ABV, tapping in to the growing popularity of session beers.

“Big beers are great if your agenda is one and done,” says Alan Newman, founder of The Just Beer Project, “but for a night out with friends? Good luck. In the early days of craft, people valued flavor, but were drinking less. Today’s beer drinkers want flavor AND the ability to drink all night without getting stupid. The craft beer pendulum has swung, and what’s happening today is more than a trend. Sessionability is here to stay.”

Anytime IPA launched in select areas throughout Tennessee this past November, but arrived in Memphis in 12-ounce bottles and on draft in February. It’s distributed through A.S. Barboro.

Michigan-based Founders Brewing Co., one of the top-rated craft breweries in the country, is coming soon to Memphis.

Founders is launching distribution in the Bluff City through Budweiser of Memphis in a matter of weeks. The brewery and distributor celebrated Thursday night with a small party at Local Gastropub in Midtown, giving a lucky few a sneak peek at Founders’ offerings.

Austin Sawyer, import, craft and specialty brand manager for Budweiser of Memphis, predicted the Founders arrival would be “one of the biggest craft (beer) launches in Memphis in 2014. … They really put an emphasis on quality.”

Founders is set to start distribution here between March 31 and April 4, Sawyer said. At the start, the Grand Rapids, Michigan, beer will be available on draft-only at bars and restaurants. But 30 days later, bottles and cans will also be available for sale in stores.

Founders’ Pale Ale and All Day IPA Session Ale — both lower-gravity beers — will be available in grocery stores. Liquor stores will have Founders’ higher-gravity Centennial IPA, Porter and Curmudgeon Old Ale. Sawyer said Founders’ limited and specialty beers will be available on a very limited basis in Memphis in 2014.

All Day IPA, which is Founders’ flagship beer and a 2010 GABF Silver Medal Winner, will be available in packages of 15 cans that should sell for about $17.99 at most stores. It’s a full-flavored beer that impresses with its hop character and low ABV, clocking in at just 4.7%. You could drink several at a sitting and be just fine.

“All Day IPA is going to be the lead dog here,” predicted John Marchetti, Founders’ Southeast Regional Sales Director. Sales of the Centennial IPA, Pale and Porter should also be strong, he said.

Founders opened for business in 1997. The brewery recently finished its fourth expansion in five years, bringing its brewing capacity to 340,000 barrels a year.

“For the first time in our history, we have excess capacity,” Marchetti said, adding that Tennessee, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana are being added to Founders’ distribution network in 2014. Florida and Texas were added last year.

When Founders launches in Memphis, it will also roll out at the same time in Nashville through Bounty Bev, and it will soon make its way to other parts of the state.